Angst
by Groxbros
Summary: In the past, before the present Chima and the heroes you all know came to be, three troubled lion teenagers' lives will change for either the better or worst. In the outlands, a place thought to be completely desolate and uninhabited, strange, mysterious things are discovered.
1. Chapter 1

Once upon a particularly bland, boring time, three hundred years before the present time of Chima would come to be …

"Hey, what the hell are you kids doing?"

"He found us, like, damn!"

"I thought you said that no one was around!"

"I tried, dude, but it's not that easy sneaking around like that!"

"Guards, stop those thieving, meddling kids!"

Nine guards were viciously chasing three lion teenagers outside the temple. "Don't drop that stuff, Logan," one of them yelled. "We have a lot of ground to cover, you know."

"I can't believe we actually did it," another one shouted. "We really went ahead and did this!"

They were making their way down the stairs, one of them carefully holding onto the stolen materials between his arms.

For the guards chasing these kids, this wasn't a first time. In fact, it was actually pretty damn common. They were well known throughout the lion temple as a small, stealing, troublemaking group of teenagers that always put everyone in a bad mood. And, unlucky for them, one of these guards, going by the name of Lamar, had had more than enough of their shenanigans. "Stupid damn kids, just eat shit and die!" he hissed, carelessly throwing his spear down towards the little thieves as they made their way down the steps.

One of the teenagers took notice just in time. "Hey, Logan, watch out," he bellowed. "There's a spear heading directly for you!"

"What?" Logan responded, barely noticing the spear had already impaled him in his left shoulder. "Holy fuck, that hurts!" he hollered, cringing to his side in pain as he dropped eight orbs of chi down the steps.

"God damn it, Logan. The mission's a failure, everyone!" the leader yelled.

"Larro, it's just us now! Logan's a goner, but we can still make it …"

Larro frowned, giving him a stern stare as they raced down the remaining twenty steps. "So we're just leaving Logan like that?" he questioned.

The leader, Lerod, responded. "Yes, as bad as it sounds, the mission's still a failure, but we can still snatch some of that chi and make a run for it!"

Gasping for breath, Lerod and Larro had finally made it down the temple stairs and snatched about three dropped chi orbs to themselves, occasionally looking back to see how close the guards were.

"Oh, another thing, Lerod …" Larro started.

"What?"

"Where the hell are we going to go now?" he asked.

Lerod took in a deep breath, and exhaled. "Honestly, Larro, I have no idea," he said. "The main success of this mission depended on Logan not getting caught. And now that he's out, I don't know what we'll do."

About three guards had stayed up the stairs to tend to Logan's wounds. Meanwhile, the other six were continuing their pursuit of the remaining two thieves. "Oh, you two are definitely going to get it when we catch you, you little assholes!" one of them shouted.

Larro put his paw above his nose. "We might as well turn ourselves in, Lerod."

"You can go ahead and do that, you big wuss, but I'm not giving up so easily."

"And just where are you planning to go, you fool?"

"Wherever the wind takes me."

Larro angrily threw the chi he had with him on the ground. "Well, you can do that, then, but I'm not a damned idiot like you, Lerod."

"That's about fine with me. It's not like we actually had anything going with this little group of ours, too."

"Hey, get the hell over here!" a lion guard yelled. Meanwhile as the two were conversing, they were standing still. By this point, two guards were even within range to tackle one of them down. Larro jerked his head back, instantly taking notice of the trouble behind him.

"Holy crap, dude, they're right behind us!"

One of the guards tackled Larro down. Lerod took off instantly, picking up two more chi orbs and making a run for it. "You and your friend here are going to regret doing what you did, you little shit sack," a guard said as he pinned Larro down. "And for your little friend getting away over there, we'll catch him, too."

"I'm all alone on this one, I guess," Lerod said to himself, trying to reach a tree just ahead of him. "I don't care what happens, though, but I'm not turning myself in!"


	2. Chapter 2

Lion guards were shoving them both by their backs with wooden handcuffs. As they walked, angst was beginning to build up in their heads. "What do you think is going to happen to us?" asked Larro, giving a small, annoyed look at the guard behind him. "Hey, shut the hell up, you dirt bag," said a lion guard. "You're not to speak unless spoken to. I hope you understand how much trouble you kids are in."

"I understand, sir." replied Logan. Echoes of footsteps could be heard as they were entering the main hall of the lion temple. A tall, familiar and imposing figure could be seen standing right in front of the throne. It was the king, Sir Luster. "Logan and Larro, I'm very disappointed in you both, you see," he said, walking down the few steps. "You two do know the severity of the theft you just committed, right?"

Logan was pissed off with the guard behind him. He pushed the guy back aggressively just after he'd loosened his handcuffs. He was met back with a loud, angry roar. "Who the hell do you think you are, you -"

"Soldier, please," intervened Sir Luster. "Let me handle this."

The guard scoffed back in annoyance. "Fine." he muttered, receiving a small chuckle from Larro. Another guard kicked Logan in his shin. "Learn your place, you thief." Sir Luster took in a deep breath and exhaled. "You guys are just teenagers; that I understand, but what you did was too severe," he said. "I think you both know where this is headed …"

Larro began to pull on his handcuffs incredibly hard. "You can't exile us! That's just too cruel!"

Guards were beginning to laugh cruelly in amusement. Sir Luster sighed, putting his palm to his face as he continued. "I don't know how your parents are going to take this, you two, but as far as I'm concerned, under the rules and traditions of this tribe, you're both exiled."

The cruel laughter from the guards before had become hysterical. "There's no possible way you can do that to us," said Logan, tightening his fists. "We're just teens, and where will we go?"

Sir Luster's voice became filled with regret and hesitation. "I don't like it as much as you do, guys, but it's just the rules," he said. "Without the rules, what are we?"

"Without the rules, we'd be better off than we ever were!" shouted Larro, trying desperately to break free of his handcuffs. A guard rushed to him and grabbed his head, then kneed him in his nose. "I bet you liked that, didn't you, Larro?"

"Soldier, that's enough. Don't hurt him." called Sir Luster.

"Yes, sorry, Sir"

Logan began breathing heavily. "What about our parents? What the hell are they going to do?" he asked, and began stomping on the ground in rage. "Just be patient, Logan. As I said before, I hate doing this, but it's just the rules. And without the rules, we're nothing…"


	3. Chapter 3

"Whatever happened to those two, I've got to get as far away as possible," said Lerod to himself as he ran through thick bushes and dense forest terrain.

"Those poor bastards- they're probably getting exiled right now."

Evening sunlight shone through openings in trees and branches, clouds were slowly drifting past the sun, shaded orange by the slowly darkening sky, casting shadows on the land below, and sounds of simple animal life were heard aside from the sounds of Lerod pushing plants and bushes away from him.

"I got my ass in quite the scenario this time. I don't know how Larro and Logan're going to fare without me." he said to himself, pausing to rest on the back of a tree. "Maybe I should've turned myself in, after all…"

Minutes passed, then hours, and Lerod had not the slightest clue what it'd take to survive out all alone. He couldn't go and try to stay at another tribe because, as said before, him and his companions were well known. Very well known, to be more specific, and they had not just caused trouble for the lions; they were pretty much ravens, except they weren't. Wherever they went, those three, they'd steal or create disturbances just for the hell of it, be it chi day racing, market days or tribe gatherings. No tribe would help him anymore, so he was in this all by himself.

Lerod did know how to start a simple fire, though, and around that time of the year, temperatures would start dropping by varied amounts during the night. He would occasionally set up small camps for himself as he retreated further and further out, away from civilization. Eventually, he wasn't even able to tell that he was out in the outlands. Strange plants, green, misty fog and frightening noises got more and more common as the hours and days passed.

As for Logan and Larro, they were thrown in a dungeon instead. It does sound cruel, and even worse, their parents were perfectly fine with it, excluding Larro's father, Lann, who was very infuriated at Sir Luster.

"You think you're just going to chain up my kid and throw him in a dungeon to rot?"

"It sounds cruel, I know, but just give me a chance to explain -"


	4. Chapter 4

"Yes, your son and his friends have gone too far this time; This is how it must be, sir."

"I don't give twenty shits about that," he responded, slamming his fist onto the wall next to him. "Release those kids, and mine, more importantly, or else!"

"Or else what, mister Lann?" Luster's voice became very stern, commanding and threatening. "I hope you do know that you are talking to royalty, sir, and I also hope that you know I cannot simply release them just because you want me to."

Lann didn't respond; he knew how well Luster was able to handle verbal scuffles. It would only get worse for him as long as he kept trying to argue back. "That's better, you see," said Luster. "As I said before, I can't let them out, or those two, at least."

"What do you mean, "those two"?" asked Lann, giving a small glance towards a random lion walking past him. Sir Luster kicked a small pebble near his foot, and started on. "Well, if you didn't already know, one of them actually escaped that chase a week or two ago."

"One of them escaped…" Lann thought to himself, looking up at the tall, stone ceiling above him. They were in another special part of the old lion temple, the inside forum hall. This was a place where representatives from multiple tribes could come and express their ideas openly, occasionally adding knowledge about their tribes to the collection of large books and scrolls in the private library. Tribal government meetings were also held here in this forum, where elders, high ranking soldiers, and royalty would discuss ideas, talk about battle plans and strategies, or simply create and enforce new rules.

"So one of them escaped?"

"Yes, mister."

"And the name is?"

"Lerod, their leader."

Lann was very sure he'd heard of that name before. Luster waved towards a passing tribal elder, who was carrying five large scrolls of information regarding the newly rising bear tribe. "It's been two weeks since this Lerod kid escaped, right?" asked Lann, stroking the spine of a large, blue book on the wooden shelf behind him.

"That's right; his name is Lerod."

"He went out all alone like that?"

"Yes, unfortunately for us and him."

Luster sighed. "I myself hope that Lerod was able to find a way to survive out there by himself," he said. "And with the temperatures starting to drop the way they are around this time of the year …"

"The temperatures and what, now?" questioned Lann, taking notice of Luster's pause.

"If Lerod hasn't frozen to death, or been killed, I meant…"

"Go on…"

"Well, you have heard of the outlander incident of six hundred, right?"

Lann's eyes widened. "Yes, everyone should already know about that occurrence. The fact that it was so tragic …" Luster took in a deep breath, and continued. "That incident involved two lions, seven ravens, three crocodiles and nine wolves out on a foolish, dangerous expedition into the outlands." His voice was getting darker and more menacing. "They had made it about one kilometer and a half out there by the third day, which was a massive accomplishment mostly on their part, but on that same afternoon, five wolves and two ravens suddenly went missing. The remaining explorers went out on a search and rescue mission to try and find them, too, and after about three hours of relentless, exhausting searching, they were able to find them."

Lann took a seat on the wall to his right, and slouched down, appearing a small bit tired. "Go on."

"They didn't find survivors, though, but they did find mangled, bloody corpses and nearly unrecognizable masses of charred flesh and bone," Luster continued, also taking a seat across from Lann. "The survivors were so terrified, they tried to retreat back into the known lands as fast as possible, but there were … strange things expecting them. We don't know who or what was waiting for them further back, but it wasn't pretty at all; all of the remaining few were horribly, brutally killed by that thing. When their bodies were found, they were so terribly destroyed and damaged that the rhinos who found them couldn't even tell which species they were."

Slowly sitting back up in his chair, Lann seemed both shocked and surprised. "I never knew that much detail about the story like that; it's really starting to scare me a lot more now!"

"Yes, it's a disturbing but true tale." replied Luster. "Now, if you'd let me go on…"

"Oh, sure!"

"The rhinos who stumbled upon their remains were baffled. The skeletons were in unrecognizable condition, to say the least. And it frightened the rhinos so much, they gave this strange environment a name, the Outlands. The rhinos made it back and told everyone they saw about it, but no one believed them. Two months after that, the two rhinos were never seen again; no one knows what happened to them, and that's another very scary part."


	5. Chapter 5

"You're telling me that that kid who escaped is going to be killed by some crazy ass outland crap?"

"Yes, pretty much, but all we can do now is hope for the best; as for your son and his friend, they'll have to stay locked up until further notice."

Lann surprisingly didn't feel angry anymore. The recap of the outland incident of six hundred had distracted him from remembering the main reason he was speaking with Luster in the first place. "Fine, but make sure those guards don't fuck around with them; I heard that either my kid or that other one got kicked in his nose by one of those asses."

Luster nodded his head in agreement, and stood up from his chair. "Well, I can definitely see that you've calmed down from a few minutes earlier," he said. "I'll most certainly make sure that those soldiers stay in line."

The large door near the entrance of the forum hall slowly creaked open, revealing a lion general and two lower ranking cadets. The three of them simultaneously straightened their poses, and gave a salute. "Sir Luster, sir!"

"What is it, commander Luzan?"

"Our search teams have just gotten back; there hasn't been any luck in finding Lerod, your majesty."

It's now been three weeks since; Lerod was far out in the outlands by now, how he survived that long is unknown even to me. Acid green, carnivorous plants belched up toxic, corrosive gases, creating a characteristically green haze near the ground. Pools of strange, poisonous waste and dense, visible clouds of carbon monoxide were becoming extremely common to Lerod as he progressed further and further out. "This is how the incident of six' o went, I see," he said to himself, pushing back thick, spiky vines with his hands. "I've lost track of both time and distance, too …"

Lerod was in fact three kilometers outside of Chima's known influence, the extent of which was a circle only twenty five miles wide at the time, making him the first person ever to travel that far into the outlands besides the people involved in the ill fated expedition before. And, for some reason, the farther out Lerod got, the less dense the air around him seemed to be. That meant by the time has was this distance out, he had to breathe in twice as hard to get even the minimum amount of oxygen he needed. If he wasn't going to be killed by something or someone, he'd likely and slowly suffocate.

"Well, it's been getting harder and harder to breath each day." Lerod thought, collapsing into a pool of black mud in exhaustion. His eyes were very red, his breaths were short, and his heart beats were getting slower and slower. It was also nearing midnight, where temperatures would begin to drop drastically. "I don't know what the hell it is out here, but I cannot fucking breathe."


	6. Chapter 6

Lerod was slowly suffocating all alone on that cold, contaminated ground; temperatures continued to drop as he lay there for hours. Again, consciousness was lost within the first few minutes, so he didn't have any awareness for that entire time. It was now nearing eleven o'clock, and it was only a chilling twenty three degrees in the Outlands. In Chima though, it was forty six degrees, oddly twice the amount in the Outlands.

A few noises were heard in the bushes next to Lerod, a mysterious shadow occasionally darting from behind one tree to another. The silhouette of an apparent crocodile emerged from behind a boulder and walked up to him, carrying a large chain. He grabbed Lerod's arm, and started to drag him away, constantly looking around suspiciously, almost as if there were people or things watching them. His voice was very low and cheerful. "A new one! After all these years!"

Six hours passed, and daylight was nearing. The mysterious crocodile had dragged Lerod six miles further into the outlands, and there were no vicious plant attacks. It seems that this person had known the outlands very well: all of the shortcuts, caves, escape routes and safe havens there could possibly be.

"We're almost there, you see. I know you've been out here for a while and you're probably starving, too," he chuckled. "You probably won't like it where I'm taking you, but it's not like you can go back to Chima."

Lerod's eyes slowly opened. He saw grey scales and a bright, half lit orange horizon. His vision was very blurry, but he could definitely notice the black chains that were on his legs, and the odd color of the crocodile that was dragging him.

He spoke weakly. "Who… are you?" The crocodile jumped up in surprise. "You scared me there," he grunted, resting his hand on the side of a tree. He cleared his throat, turned to Lerod and gave a small smile. "I don't see why it'd be that important to tell you my name, mister lion, but if you must know, you can call me Cranium."

Lerod moved his legs around in circles trying to break through the chains. The crocodile looked very amused. "Where are you taking me? And why does the air here vary so much? Why are your scales grey?" He was met back with another hearty laugh.

"So many questions! So many questions! You'll get your answers once we arrive there."

"Arrive where?"

"You will see soon. But for now, let's go back to sleep."

The crocodile pulled out a dark syringe and threw it at Lerod's shoulder. He blacked out within seconds. He grabbed his legs again, and began dragging him further.


	7. Chapter 7

It was dawn, and the crocodile continued dragging Lerod by his feet for four whole hours without pause or rest, occasionally humming small rhymes to lighten the mood. The dense outland terrain slowly disappeared behind the two as they trailed further out. Eventually the crocodile stopped, and dropped Lerod's foot to observe his surroundings.

He took in a deep breath. "Absolutely beautiful scenery here, mister," he said, staring into the blue, cloudy sky. "Too bad you're not conscious to see this."

The crocodile crouched down near a small patch of flowers, and sniffed at them delightedly. "It's great stuff like this out here that makes it all worth while."

The sun's light blended in with the blue glow of the atmosphere and the whiteness of the clouds perfectly. Gentle winds breezed past the two and filled the air with the scent of flowers. This was a hugely vivid contrast from the mysterious, dark, treacherous outlands they had been in just a while earlier. Canyons, lakes, rivers, and whole mountain ranges could be seen in the grassy horizon, land that had never been touched or seen by any Chima resident.

"You know, maybe when Chima gets technologically advanced enough, you could all go out and explore the world," He sat down next to Lerod, rested his claws on the grass, and gazed out into the sky. "This whole continent is great. There's stuff out here you could never even imagine, like enormous, huge bodies of water."

His arms slid behind his back as he let himself fall and lay on the grass. Then he picked up a small pebble, and started throwing it up and down in his hand. "I guess we could take a break here, mister lion. I really don't feel like missing this."

They stayed there for minutes. The crocodile stared at the scenery around him nonstop, absolutely cherishing the moment.

"Well, we should get going." he said to himself, and looked down at Lerod. "You look kind of cute when you're not awake. But you're a lion anyway, so that makes since."

The leg dragging continued once more. They were on the move towards a strange, flat, and empty void of land two miles further ahead.

"It feels weird doing this to an actual mammal after such a long time." he thought, maneuvering around large boulders with Lerod in his arms. "I never thought I'd actually have to carry him for once."

To avoid the constant nuisance of Lerod's head hitting something near the ground, the crocodile took it upon himself to hold and carry the lion above him like an infant. He actually liked carrying Lerod, too, but just a little bit. His brown, tan fur and dark chocolate mane made the croc's arms feel comfortable.

They reached their destination in half an hour, and in front of them was a deep, steep crater strangely filled with cabins, fences, trees, small buildings, and walkways. Even more odd, there were people inside the fences grabbing onto them and screaming for help. You wouldn't be able to tell if they were former Chimans because of the distance, but their shadows were moving around behind the fence chaotically, almost as if they were desperately trying to escape even.

"There goes our livestock. Well, not livestock. But they are our workers, you see." The crocodile cleared his throat, and gently placed Lerod back on the ground. He walked down the steep slope of the crater's rim, occasionally glancing at the panicked, incarcerated figures behind the main fence.

He grinned devilishly. "They look so fun when new guys arrive. Too bad since they won't ever get help."


End file.
